Among those who have fallen under its spell is Russell Potter, an English professor at Rhode Island College. Potter, who teaches a class called "Arctic Explorations," has become a Franklin expert and recently published a book called "Finding Franklin." (McGill-Queen's University Press.)

The expedition, under the command of Sir John Franklin, left England in two well-provisioned ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with 129 men, to explore the fabled Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic. They were never seen again. At least not alive.

By 1848, with no word from Franklin, the British Navy began sending out search parties. The hunt for Franklin and his men was not officially called off until 1859, and efforts to discover exactly what happened continue to this day. (The 1984 exhumation of Franklin crew member John Torrington from the ice inspired James Taylor's song "Frozen Man.")

Potter said the mystery of the Franklin expedition captivated the Victorian world. "In the 1850s, you couldn't open a magazine without a reference to Franklin," Potter said. Potter, who is neither a scientist nor a historian, became interested in the Franklin expedition through his studies of Victorian culture.

John Bockstoce, an Arctic historian and expert in fur trade and whaling, as well as a former curator at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, said Potter is highly respected in the Franklinphile world.

Bockstoce compared the impact of the Franklin expedition in its time to the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. But the Franklin mystery has lasted far longer, with questions that persist to this day.

Right now, the Franklin expedition is enjoying another moment in the spotlight, thanks to the discovery of Franklin's sunken ships, the Erebus in 2014 and the Terror in 2016. At least two additional books are due out in March, the nonfiction "Ice Ghosts" by Paul Watson and the novel "Minds of Winter," by Ed O'Loughlin. (Potter said more than 20 novels have been inspired by the Franklin expedition.)

"No one thought they would find the Terror," Potter said. "Everyone thought they were lucky to find one [ship]. No one really thought they would find the second."

Potter said it will take time for the ships to reveal their secrets, since the window for underwater exploration in the Arctic is just a few weeks each year. But the location of the ships raises some intriguing questions. Potter said both were found in locations where they were unlikely to have drifted, meaning they had probably sailed (or steamed) from their last known location.

"It seems they [Franklin's men] made an intelligent effort to get out, and succeeded better than we originally thought," Potter said.

Over the years since the expedition launched in 1845, interest has shifted from Britain to Canada. (The British have formally ceded ownership of Franklin's vessels to the Canadians.) Potter said the shift was partly due to the efforts of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who had a keen interest in the Franklin expedition, and partly due to the hold the Far North has on the Canadian psyche.

Potter's book looks at the long history of the explorers who attempted to discover what happened to Franklin, many of whom had dramatic stories of their own. John Rae's reports of cannibalism among Franklin's men was widely denounced in England. Charles Hall was apparently poisoned by his own ship's doctor. Frederick Schwatka died a drug addict.

Potter also explores the central role that the testimony of native peoples, the Inuit, had in determining what happened to the Franklin expedition. "Initially the Inuit stories were ignored, but it turns out the location of the ships, the depth of the water, every detail about the ships, they all checked out," he said.

Potter himself has not been to the Arctic since 2005, when he went as part of a documentary on Franklin, called "Arctic Passage," in the PBS series "Nova." But he's going back in August on a cruise that will retrace Franklin's path as nearly as possible.

"It's going to be all Franklin, all the time," he said happily.

— asmith@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7485

On Twitter: @asmith651

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